Thursday, October 23, 2008

It probably will not be a huge surprise to many people that on November 4th many people will be turned away at the polls because of voter registration errors. Every election there is a story of corruption in the voting process where people are either waiting in line for hours to vote, ballot boxes magically disappear, or people are told you name is not on the registration list. Outrage ensues from one political party or the other based on demographics and which way any one area tends to vote favorably.

In a perfect world all votes would be counted but there is always someone, or some political faction trying to swing the vote count in one candidate or the others favor. Nothing enrages true political junkies more than seeing an election hijacked by underhanded shenanigans. Needless to say, there is always going to be someone that will try and steal votes away from the people based on their own personal ideology and desire to have their candidate win the election. The more votes stolen, the better is their thought process when committing this despicable act. Over at the New York Times they have this to say on 8,000 votes nearly stolen…

Sorry, I Can’t Find Your Name

Before Mississippi’s March presidential primary, one county election official improperly removed more than 8,000 voters from the eligible-voter rolls, including a Republican Congressional candidate. Fortunately, the secretary of state’s office learned of the purge in time and restored the voters.

It’s disturbing that a single official (who acted after mailings to voters were returned) could come so close to disenfranchising thousands of voters. But voting rolls, which are maintained by local election officials, are one of the weakest links in American democracy and problems are growing.

Snip (from voting list)

For this election, voters need to be prepared to fight for their right to cast a ballot. They should try to confirm before Nov. 4 that they are on the rolls — something that in many states can be done on a secretary of state or board of elections Web site. If their state permits it, they should vote early. Any voter who finds that their name has disappeared from the rolls will then have time to challenge mistakes.

If voters find on Election Day that their names are not on the rolls, they should contact a voters’ rights group like Election Protection, at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, or a political campaign, which can advocate for them. They should not, except as a last resort, cast a provisional ballot, since it is less likely to be counted.- New York Times

Take the time to make sure your vote will count and make sure your registration is still valid or has in fact been added to the rolls of eligible voters. Don’t think for a minute that vote theft can not happen in your happy go lucky part of the world and that this sort of crime does not happen in your city or town. Now more than ever it is very important to make sure that your vote is cast and counted on November 4th.